Glass-pot-filling apparatus



2 She e Ls-Shee L 1 W. OWEN Filed May 16, 1927 GLASS POT FILLTNG APPARATUS Jun e' 4, 1929.

June 4, 1929. 4 w. OWEN 1.716.286

GLASS POT FILLING APPARATUS Filed May .6, 19.27 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Patented June 4, 1929.

WILLIAM OWEN, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS COMPANY, AcoRronATIoN or PENNSYLVANIA.

GLASS-POT-FILLING APPARATUS.

Application filed May 16,

The invention relates to pot filling apparatus for supplying batch to the melting pots as used in glass furnaces for the production of plate glass.- The apparatus is designed to supply the batch through the side walls or tuilles of the furnace when they are provided with suitable openings for that purpose. The principal objects of the invention are to provide an apparatus which can be controlled or operated rapidly and with a minimum of effort on the part of the workmen. A further object is the provision of a cheap simple construction, which can be utilized with existing furnace constructions. One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a partial vertical section'and partial. side elevation. Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section at the rear end ofthe feeding device. And Fig. 3 is a section on the line III-III of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 1, 1 is the floor of a casting hall upon which the furnace is built, such furnace comprising the side walls 2, 2, the crown 3, and the tuilles 4, 4 having the openings 5, 5 therethrough. The openings 5, 5 have suitable covers 6, which are moved to permit the filling of the pots 7 7 which are arranged in series along the sides of the fur nace. The furnace walls are supported by the vertical channel members 8, 8 arranged in series along the sides of the furnace and secured together by buckstays 9 in the usual way.

Mounted upon the channel membersS, 8 at suitable intervals along the length of the furnace are the batch boxes 10, which may be filled from time to time by a conveyor carried by the overhead crane 11 or may be filled at some remote point where the batch mixer is located and then carried to the position shown and hung by means of the overhead crane.

Mounted for movement along the side of the furnace on the floor 1 is the truck 12, which carries the filling apparatus. This truck is preferably mounted upon a pair of front wheels 13 and a rear wheel 14, the latter being swivelled to permit the truck to be swung sideways about the front wheels as a pivot in. order to bring the chute of the filling apparatus directly over the pot, in case the pot should not be located exactly opposite the opening 5. The truck is provided with a rearwardly projecting handle 15, by means of 1927. seriarNo. 191,693.

tally well into the chute, as indicatedin dotted lines in Fig. 2. The hopper is located at an elevation such that it may be brought beneath the lower end of the batch box 16, at which time the handle 19 may be movedto operate thegate of the batch box and admita measured quantity of batch therefrom to the hopper. t I

The rear end of the chute 18 is supported for rotation in the casting 20, as indicated in Fig. 2, the casting 20being itself rigidly supported by the framework 16 and by the downwardly extending arms 21, 21. The chute is preferably in the form of a casting provided adjacent its rear end with the grooves 22, 22 which act as a runway for the anti-friction rollers 23. These anti-friction rollers are held in place in the casting 20 by means of the annular plates 24, 24, bolted to the casting, as shown. The chute is also provided with a sprocket 25 around which passes the chain 26, and such chain is driven from the motor 27 mounted upon the truck through the intermediary of suitable reduction gearing in the casing 29 and the sprocket 30 carried by the drive shaft extending from the reduction gearing, around which the chain passes. Any other suitable means might, of course,

be employed for giving the chute its rotary movement, or it might be rotated by hand, although the power rotation is much preferred. The operation of the motor is governed from a suitable controller 31 carried in a convenient location upon the truck. The chute 18 is provided upon its'interior with feed spirals 32 extending from one end of the chute to the other.

When it is desired to fill one of the pots, the cover of the nearest opening 5 is removed and the truck is wheeled by the operator to the position shown in Fig. 1 with the chute 18 projecting through the opening so that its end lies over the pot. The hopper 17 is then filled from the batch box 10 and the operator starts the motor 27, thus causing the chute 18 to rotate rapidly, so that the batch in the hopper is fed into the pot. The truck is then moved backward to withdraw the chute from the opening 5 and the cover replaced over such opening. The truck may then be moved along the furnace to the next filling opening and the operation repeated. The operation as above described permits of the very rapid filling of a pot with only a slight amount of exertion on the part 'of the operator and without exposing him to any great degree of heat. The chute being in the form of a casting Without movable parts upon its interior will stand up under the severe heat conditions through a long period of use, particularly, as the power operation of the chute permits it to feed with such rapidity that itneed remain exposed to the heat inside the furnace for a few seconds only. This obviates any requirement for water cooling, although water cooling means may be easily provided for, if desired. WVhat I claim is:

-1. Apparatus for filling'glass pots in a furnace having a series of feed openings through its sides adjacent the pots, comprising a truck mounted for movement along the side of the furnace, a frame thereon having a pair of spaced bearings in substantially horizontal alinement, a substantially horizontal feed chute having its rear end journalled in said bearings and adapted to be moved through one of said openings to a position of discharge above a pot, a batch hopper carried by the truck and having its lower end directed into the rear end ofthe feed chute, feed means upon the interior of the chute effective by the rotation of the chute to feed the batch therethrough, a gear on the chute intermediate said bearings, and means for driving said gear.

2. Apparatus for filling glass pots in a furnace having a series of feed openings through its sides adjacent the pots, comprising a truck mounted for movement along the side of the furnace, a frame thereon, a substantially horizontal feed chute having its rear end ournalled in said frame and adapt ed to have its front end moved through one of said openings to a position of discharge above a pot, a batch hopper carried by the truck and having its lower end turned laterally so that it extends through the rear end of scribed my name this 12th day of May, 1927.

WlLLIAM OWEN. 

